Amongst Flat Trees and Stains
by Sable Supernova
Summary: James and Fred are difficult to keep occupied over the summer, but Teddy plans a race of sorts that leads them to Flourish and Blotts. Oneshot.


Written for:  
 **Hogwarts Writing School** \- 1000 words and race  
 **School of Prompts Challenge** \- 1/2 of your story must take place in Flourish and Blotts  
 **Ultimate Chocolate Frog Cards Challenge** \- Fred Weasley II - Write about Fred Weasley II.  
 **Writing Bingo** \- Floo Network

Words: 983

Taken complete liberty with Fred's age, as it's unknown, and placed him a year older than James.  
Warning for one instance of explicit language.

* * *

 **Amongst Flat Trees and Stains**

Keeping the likes of James and Fred occupied over the long summer holidays was never easy, but by now, Teddy had had a lot of practice.

At thirteen and fourteen, the boys were ever-growing bags of troublesome energy, and Teddy didn't want to admit how many days' worth of planning had gone into the race, which would undoubtedly take them no more than a few hours to complete.

It started, initially to the boys' chagrin, with a riddle in their breakfasts, but once they'd woken up, they were hooked on the competition.

The first few clues saw James in the lead as they rifled through the Potter household, but a riddle crafted with the help of family friend, Luna, lead them out to London. Fred was the first to step into Diagon Alley, and lay eyes on the clue that lead him to Flourish and Blotts, but James wasn't far behind.

 _"I'm small and blue, quite normal among my kind,_  
 _And I live among a forest of flat trees and stains._  
 _My father, among a handful of straw you will find;_  
 _My mother - why birds fight for the sky to be theirs to reign."_

Fred recited the words over and over in his mind, glancing at the shelves. He was waiting for a title to jump out at him, screaming that they were the one, but so far nothing. He'd scanned the entire popular fiction department and was now analysing the romance books.

The freckles on his nose drew close as he scrunched up his face at _Hooking Up With Hags_ , though he couldn't help but wonder if it was more of a memoir or a self-help manual.

The bell above the door sounded behind him and he turned his head, smiling to see none other than his cousin James standing in the doorway, bent double and out of breath.

James laughed out loud on seeing Fred. "I caught you up!" he announced very proudly.

"Yeah, like it'll last!" Fred called on his false bravado to give him an air of arrogance, and the worry that crossed James' face said it had paid off.

"Please, have you actually worked out any more than the second line?" James scoffed, trying to keep his face stoic instead of desperate. It was only a silly game really, but in the moment, they weren't entirely convinced it wasn't really life and death.

"Of course I have, haven't you? The fourth line was easy," Fred lied. The second line had taken him a good ten minutes - flat trees and stains quite clearly referred to paper and ink once he'd thought about it, but the rest had him stumped.

"Bullshit," James announced, rather rudely, incredulous.

Fred just shrugged and began to walk away to a new section of the shop. "If you say so."

As Fred considered the sports section of Hobbies and Interests, he let his mask drop, knowing James couldn't see the anxiety pass over his face.

James, on the other hand, ruffled his messy dark hair and decided that strategy was his best option. He decided to take the first line of the riddle at its word, and took out a scrap of parchment and a quill. He quickly jotted down the names of the authors of books that happened to be blue and small, and when he'd collected a dozen, he picked up a dictionary. He reasoned that the author must be either the mother or father of the book in question. To work out which book it was, he just needed to know what the authors' names meant, and which one added up to the riddle. It might take him a while, he knew, and that worried him, but at least he had something.

While James sat down to work, Fred browsed through the sports section, his eyes landing on Quidditch. Maybe, he considered, Quidditch was the answer to the flying part. The Montrose Magpies and Falmouth Falcons were both teams named after birds, after all.

James was flicking through the 'W' section, looking for _whisp_ , but found himself rather annoyed to discover the word wasn't there. On a whim, he skipped forward to _wisp_ , knowing he'd heard that word somewhere before. As he read the words, 'a handful of straw', he snapped the dictionary shut and jumped up, racing towards where Fred was stood. The other customers turned to the boy with disapproving expressions, a few tuts loosing from tongues as he ran, but James didn't hear them. He could see Fred's fingers casually reaching out for the book he needed, and was determined to get there before him.

Careening into his cousin to knock him aside, he clumsily reached out for the book, knocking two others off the shelf besides it, and flicked through the pages.

"Hey, I got it before you!" Fred argued, reaching for the book to snatch it away.

"There are more on the shelf, get your own!" James snapped back, turning away with his copy of _Quidditch Through The Ages_ held tight to his chest.

As James flicked through, a sheet of parchment loosened which he hastily opened, Fred reading over his shoulder.

 _"When it comes to a growing boy's hunger, a mother knows best, though some have had more practice than others."_

As if they were a chorus, the boys chimed, "Molly!" before running from the shop in haste, leaving a cloud of debris and the confused onlookers far behind.

One onlooker stepped out from behind a bookshelf and cast his wand around the scene to tidy up the books, before drawing out a clipboard and pencil. He stood still while he made a few notes, only stopping to scrunch up his face in thought. As he did so, his auburn hair suddenly changed, flashing a bright bubblegum pink that caused more than a few stares. He smiled and shook his head before casually leaving the store.


End file.
